Forgot Y Axis rail stiffeners

Hi everyone, I was dumb enough to forget inserting the y axis rail stiffeners before the concrete cures.
How important are they in terms of stability? Should I start from scratch or keep building it?

I would start from scratch, these arent massive machines. The stiffeners are probably critical.

Thanks for your reply, the problem with starting from scratch is the machine is in the basement of my house and I have no idea how to get rid of a base weighing more than 500lbs :grin:

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Hammer, chisel and 5 gal buckets!

Well, I was expecting for someone to say that those stiffeners were completely useless :slight_smile:

Required. Sorry to hear that. As they said in the thread above. Chisel and hammer. You poor guy.

Before going the chisel and hammer path I plan to try the machine without those stiffeners. If the machining quality won’t be acceptable, I will try covering the sides of the area under the Y axis bars with some 3d printed covers and fill the space with epoxy. If none works hours of chiseling :slight_smile:

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Did you already pour epoxy, or do you just have concrete? If you don’t have epoxy yet then I would wait to put it down until you’ve done your test cuts.

I wonder how feasible it would be to chisel out just 4 notches where the stiffeners need to go, then repour concrete just in those areas.

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I didn’t pour the epoxy yet, won’t the concrete lose stability if I make a notch that deep and long?

Just bite the bullet and get it done. No good will come out of this. Borrow a hammer drill with a chisel end or rent it. Set it for hammer and not drill function, and in an hour or so, you’ll be cleaning up the mess—just my two cents.

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If your concrete is still green less then a week old it will come out easy get a four pound mall and a chisel and get it done . If you have a hammer drill , drill a bunch of holes not to deep to help it crack out . Or take a small grinder with a diamond wheel and score it like big daddy says just get it done the longer it sits the harder it gets .

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Unfortunately I agree with the others. There is no point in trying it without the stiffeners - they are critical if you are going to be milling metal.

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It’s not just a matter of rigidity and vibration, the rails will sag from the gantry enough to prevent you from machining the base plate reasonably flat and you’ll be chasing your tail trying to tram it all in.
Unless you added anything to anchor the pan to the concrete, or a bunch of mesh, I bet it will come out easier than you think.

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Good point. I forgot about the setup inherently requiring machining of metal.

I guess I solved the problem in an easier way. I used a counter gauge to trace the concrete surface and cut the stiffeners bottom part using a plasma cutter. I tested the bending of the y axis with the dial test indicator by placing a 150lbs weight on the center of them both before and after the operation. The indicator was going over the limit before the operation and it doesn’t move a bit now.

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So am I understanding correctly? You cut off the bottom of the stiffeners so they are above the concrete and not in it? :open_mouth:

What kind of material will you be cutting on this?

Yes, above the concrete, under the epoxy. I will be cutting mostly aluminum.

Just want to chime in here and say that we would be happy to provide any replacement parts you need to do it right for cost of the parts. The y axis rail stiffeners are critically important. I’m confident in saying that performance of the machine will be diminished without properly installed stiffeners.

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cut the stiffeners bottom part using a plasma cutter.

eeeehhhhh, you’re missing the point… It’s not a load bearing issue, it’s a vibration dampening issue. you’re not holding a weight load or countering a force with this you’re reducing vibration which is a major contributor to machine performance, tool life, and surface finish.

I really hate to say it but you fked up the most important part of the build.

I suggest you take Daniel up on his offer and buy a new pan and the parts that are in the concrete at cost from Langmuir and just redo that part of the build. Or get and air hammer with a chisel.

the problem with a air hammer and chisel is that you might end up compromising the integrity of the concrete around the area which… well… is just as bad.

Do you really want your $9,000 dollar machine to perform like a $1,200 dollar machine?

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Thank you all for your advice and suggestions. Despite the concerns raised, I decided to proceed with my modified method. As a hobbyist, extreme accuracy and tight tolerances aren’t crucial for my projects. I’ll be using this machine mainly to learn machining and create basic components for my personal projects. I really don’t like to break some concrete in my house :slight_smile: